Sakuras Journey
by Scenic Sakura
Summary: Sakura has gained permission to explore out of the borders of the land of fire for a week after Team seven had returned home from defeating Sasori and rescuing Gaara. Although Sakura comes by a strange herb that is more dangerous that Sakura could've ever imagined, I mean, Sakura wasn't expecting anything bad to come of simply harvesting herbs out in the open.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One – Another normal day

I had been spending the past week studying all the different kinds of herbs and noting down their locations if I find they're not in Konoha's book of official herbs and where to find them. I've also been pushing my physical limits during every day I spend looking for herbs. It's turned out quite well so far as I've discovered 5 new herbs that aren't listed in the book and 2 rare herbs that seem to have been growing in their areas for years.

I found that these past few days have helped me open my mind up more to nature of my own body and how pushing my body past it's physical limits isn't all too bad as I've learned how to regain chakra at a fast rate…I'll probably share my knowledge with Tsunade when I return home later on tonight.

I sighed and furrowed my brows before laying down and staring up at the sky. These must've been the best couple of isolated days I've experienced in my whole life. I was doing the small things I enjoy and learning new things at the same time.

I sighed again and closed my eyes.

"I wonder what I'll find today." I muttered out loud to myself as I rummaged through my pouch to find the book.

I hoisted my body to a sitting position and opened my eyes whilst flipping the book to the last page. My eyes skimmed through the list of herbs and locations before my attention was drawn to a scribble, marking over a herb and its location.

I took a closer look and saw that it was situated only a few miles to my north.

Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I closed the book and stuffed it back in my pouch before sprinting off towards the area of the unknown herb.

I wonder why it was crossed out, was it a poisonous herb? Or was it a useless one.

Before I could think of a conclusion, I reached a small clearing in the forest and I decided to stop on top of a flat rock in the middle of a large pond.

This area looked quite peaceful, I should keep this place in mind if I ever want to escape the chaotic life I live.

I quickly glanced around at my surroundings, looking for anything that stood out to me. I soon found a small area of grass and leaves that looked slightly out of place, so I hopped off the rock to examine it closer.

The leaves were dotted with a purple colour and the stems were a sickly pink. The more I looked at them the more of the herbs I could see.

I couldn't shake off the feeling that the herbs looked familiar in some way. I looked around briefly before taking out a medium sized test tube to harvest a significant amount of herbs in. I stowed it away before looking at the remaining herbs.

I frowned at myself before harvesting the second lot too, making sure that the remains will grow again one day.

Just as I carefully placed the second test tube next to the first, I could hear muffled voices in the distance.

 _'_ _Shit, this could've been someone's home grown herbs…or something'_ I cussed in my mind as I masked my chakra and found a vantage point in one of the heavily dressed trees.

"Finally, after almost ten years we can take Sasori's herbs he planted for us." I heard a rough sounding male voice emerge from my left.

My heart sank…they couldn't possibly be speaking about Sasori of the Red Sand…could they?

A few moments later I could see three tall males heading towards the location of the herbs I just picked, they wouldn't have been able to see that the herbs they were looking for had already been picked, as their view was blocked by a small bush, full of leaves and flowers.

My brain was telling me to make an escape whilst I could as three of the most dangerous s-ranked criminals came into view. Itachi, Kisame and finally Deidara had come into full view.

My curiosity wanted to know more about what the herb was and its medical properties…and why the Akatsuki would want it...And why Sasori planted it here in the first place, it is quite an open place after all, why would they expect a herb to still be in one place after 10 whole years? Unless...

"Well you'd think after waiting so long it would feel almost rewarding to take it for ourselves. However," Itachi's voice bored as he was a few feet away from the herbs. "someone has beaten us to it." He finished. I felt my heart drop slightly, knowing that I've caught myself up in Akatsuki business.

"What the hell! Sasori said it would take _exactly_ ten years to grow…to the hour." Deidara grunted through his teeth before looking from Itachi to Kisame. "He was lying!"

"He wasn't lying." Itachi said as he looked down at the herbs. He'd stood there in pure silence, whilst closing his eyes.

The wind raced past my hair as the birds sang its usual tunes. My heart started to beat at a faster pace. My gut instinct was warning me to leave but my unspoken questions hadn't been answered. I could only imagine how proud Tsunade would be if I returned home with intelligence on the Akatsuki.

"The herbs have been picked recently, you can tell by the faint sour smell." Itachi finally spoke, making my heart jump slightly. I discreetly sniffed my pouch and soon discovered the herbs had a sour smell to it which was quite weird.

I tried to mask the smell with a small amount of chakra as Itachi turned to face Kisame and Deidara.

"We will split up. We can cover a five-mile radius within ten minutes." Itachi said as Kisame and Deidara nodded. "I'll cover this area, no time to waste." He said as the two darted off. I sighed silently in relief.

I would have definitely been spotted whilst off guard and found for sure if I'd left when my gut instinct was telling me to.

I concentrated heavily on my breathing and my hiding as Itachi stood still on the flat rock I'd been standing on only a few moments ago. He closed his eyes and stood silently.

He's supposed to be covering ground to find me…why is he standing in one place.

It seemed like 10 minutes had passed by as Itachi hadn't moved an inch…something didn't seem quite right, but I remained in my spot with an intense glare fixed on Itachi's person. Another ten minutes had passed and now my heart was racing, something was definitely not right. Itachi hadn't moved one inch and Kisame and Deidara hadn't returned yet…

Crap…this is genjutsu isn't it. I quickly made a handsign with my right hand before inaudibly repelling the genjutsu, only to be met with Itachi's piercing red eyes.

"Ah." I unwillingly made a sound as I jumped back onto the branch behind me. Shit, I'm in trouble. I didn't hesitate to sprint away back in the direction of Konoha. I need a small amount of time to think about how to deal with this situation.

I could hear Itachi's light but speedy footwork chasing after me, only making my thoughts more jumbled.

I think I could make it to the small area I set up in case of a speedy chase like this…but gauging the speed Itachi is following me with…there's a very high chance that I'll injure myself too.

I couldn't waste another second thinking; this was my only option.

I could see Deidara in the distance, I think he was trying to examine what my explosive flowers were.

"Hey!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, gaining Deidara's attention as I was closing in near him at quite a speed.

He readied his arms and threw something in my direction as I was a few feet away from him. I simply avoided his attack by making a last minute decision to slide under his legs. I swiftly got back to my feet and continued running forwards. Deidara's attack had halted Itachi's movements long enough for me to get a small lead.

I made a few handsigns just as soon as I finished passing all my handmade explosives, activating all the bombs behind me, I daren't look back as I continue sprinting for my life.

I was so foolish…I still don't know what this herb is used for but my goodness was it something dangerous to possess if the Akatsuki are hunting me for it.

"Deidara?" I heard Kisames voice from my right. I quickly glanced at him before speeding past him.

Shit, I forgot there were three of them…Kisame is the one with the most chakra, or so I've heard. Maybe It's better if I engage in a fight only for him to exhaust his chakra so that I can tire him out…or will that only slow me down?

I didn't have the luxury of making that choice for myself as Kisame's huge sword struck the ground in front of me, causing me to stop my body in an unnatural way, causing me to lose my balance as Kisame raised his sword and clumsily rested it on his shoulder.

"Is if I'd let you simply be on your way. Who are you?" Kisame grunted through gritted teeth. My body involuntarily shivered.

This isn't going to be easy at all…I clenched my fists and prepared myself for my first attack.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **ayyye :D I'm back into Fanfiction and I'm gonna rewrite my old fanfiction "Sakura's journey to power"**

 **So as always I hope you enjoy and please review ^_^**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two – Lying for freedom

I inhaled carefully as I studied Kisames very relaxed posture. He wasn't giving away any hints to a potential weakness at all, which frustrated me massively. My knee jerk reaction would have been to punch the smug smirk off of his face. Although I realized very soon that it wouldn't have been a good idea…maybe I could distract him by talking…whilst I think up of an escape route.

"I'm a kunoichi of Konoha." I stated blatantly as Kisame planted his sword in the ground and used it as an arm rest,

"No shit Sherlock. What's your name and why did you take the herbs?" he grunted as his eyes narrowed.

I cleared my throat, giving myself a good few seconds to think up a lie.

"My name is none of your concern and the herbs you speak of have been taken by my partner, who's already halfway to the village by now." I said with a smug look.

Kisames eyes widened before he hesitantly ran off into the direction of the leaf village. My chest fell in relief but my heart rate remained in the same panicked state. The herbs I'm holding right now must be so damn important if he's left me within seconds of a mere statement with no evidence… holy shit. I need to get away from here…Now.

My legs wanted to move so badly but I simply couldn't move them. I was frozen in fear...Why is this happening to me now? I've already escaped them but my brain was working in overdrive from the fear of dying…must've been the adrenaline.

"C'mon…Move!" I yelled at myself as my body started to slowly obey my commands. I slowly started at a jogging pace in the direction of the sand village.

"You call that an explosion?!" I heard a man's voice yell from behind me hysterically. I twisted my body to come face to face with Deidara. I crossed my arms to defend myself from his attack but it was a feeble attempt as something exploded in front of me.

My body was airborne for a few moments before I landed harshly on my back. I choked on air as I quickly, and very ungracefully, got onto my feet, i seemed to have a slight burn on my forearms...but it wasn't anything too damaging.

"Just give us the herbs, and I may let you live with one bone intact." He growled as Itachi stood calmly at his side.

I merely looked up at Deidara before forcing a smirk on my face.

"My partner has already made off with what the herbs. Your ugly blue friend is trying to get to him now but he's already too late." I lied again as Deidaras eyes widened with fear as he summoned a pure white bird and flew in the direction of the hidden leaf.

I almost expected Itachi to copy Deidaras frantic movements to run off but he simply stood still.

"Do you expect me to magically have the herb in my hand?" I said with a falsely sarcastic tone.

"No." His voice was deep, and it didn't sit well with my ears.

Before I could even answer him I felt a cold aura surrounding me. What seemed like a random black feather floated across my line of vision before my body suddenly felt exhausted beyond function.

I panicked, if I let them get a hold of the herbs they want without knowing it's properties, I could be making a huge mistake that could gravely impact the future.

Drawing energy from nothing I performed a several different handsigns before placing both of my hands on my pouch to create a strong shield around it.

My body suddenly felt super heavy and I soon crashed into the ground with a loud thud. I winced in pain as I felt my arm break in two different places.

"If your partner has what is ours, then why are you so precious about your pouch?" Itachi mocked as I saw his feet getting closer to me. I tried to use my chakra to heal my arm but nothing was happening. My chakra was completely and utterly drained; my consciousness was fading but I stubbornly lifted my head to stare at him directly.

"You'll never get your hands on it…I could destroy it if I wanted" I mostly muttered as Itachi kicked me onto my back.

His long, dark hair was gently pushed towards me by gravity as he leaned over my limp body. I struggled to keep my eyes open as his face lowered closer to mine, his ponytail effortlessly brushing past his neck and hung a mere few inches away from my cheek.

"Don't be so foolish." Itachi said with a smirk. As his hand was forced onto my face I entered the land of unconsciousness…

I thought I was good enough to escape…

...I thought…

…I was stonger…

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I know this is chapter is shorter! Sorry .**

 **the next one will be longer though :) as always I hope you enjoyed and don't be scared to leave a review.**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three – Rain

[Kakashi's P.O.V]

I reluctantly stood up from the sofa and walked to my window after I heard rain start to hit the glass pane with quite a harsh force.

This was weird, for a day as sunny as it was a few moments ago to break out in heavy rain. I pulled my mask up and put on my gear before I decided I'd go out and take a look around the village for any suspicious activity.

I cleared my throat and brushed my hand through my hair once before opening the front door, only to be faced with a concerned Yamato.

"Afternoon." I said plainly while raising my hand. "And to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I need your help…and it's quite urgent." He said. I wasn't convinced until Jiraiya had come into view.

"It is you know." Jiraiya added as I stepped onto the pavement and closed the door behind me.

"What is it you need three men for?" I questioned cautiously as I looked back at Yamato.

He stood for a moment in silence, staring at me directly in my eye, as if he were examining me.

"I have reason to believe Sakura has put herself in danger." Yamato finally spat out. I remained calm as I slowly looked from him to Jiraiya.

"And I caught wind of the Akatsuki roaming the fire border." Jiraiya added. Now I was concerned.

"How many?" I questioned instantly, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Three." Jiraiya answered swiftly.

"Who."

"Not sure, the source wasn't reliable."

I sighed deeply before leading the way to Tsunades office.

"We're going to have to inform the Hokage of this first before we leave. In case she has any information on the matter." I stated as we started to quicken our pace.

"Why was Sakura out near the border anyway, how can you know if she's even outside of the village?" I asked as I kept a steady pace. There were a few moments of silence as we were getting closer to the Hokages office.

"I overheard Tsunade approve of a personal break Sakura wanted to take," Yamato started as I raised an eyebrow. "Sakura wanted to familiarise herself with the herbs that grew around the border." He continued as we entered the huge building. "I planted a tracking device inside her pouch before she left. The signals have been perfectly fine for the past couple of days...except this morning, when the signal got interrupted somehow."

I looked over my shoulder as I started to walk up the stairs.

"As much of a convenience as it is for us now, you shouldn't be making it your personal mission to spy on my former students." Was all I could say. After hearing everything that's been said, I'm concerned that Sakura isn't strong enough…Did her path really intertwine with the Akatsuki? Why would the Akatsuki even be anywhere near the border. I sighed loudly in frustration.

"We are all worried about her." Jiraiya said, trying to relieve me while heavily placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Tsunade is busy at the moment, if you'd like to speak with her then you will have to wait for later on in the day." I heard Shizune speak from round the corner. I straightened my stance as a group of specialist Jonin passed me and started walking down the stairs, muttering amongst each other.

They all seemed to be beaten up to some extent, their clothes hanging in certain areas. Their masks scratched or littered with cracks.

What is Tsunade doing that's so important that she's not seeing the specialists right now?

"I'm presuming you heard what I told those other Jonin." Shizune stated as we reached her. I merely looked down at tonton, her pig who seemed to be sleeping, before speaking up.

"What is so important for Tsunade to not speak to Jonin?" I questioned her. I have never really been fond of Shizune. She's got this…ego about her.

"I don't believe that's any of your business Kakashi," She scowled at me before looking up and behind my left shoulder. "Jiraiya, You're not supposed to be back until next week." Shizune smiled warmly at him, which irked me to an extent.

"That's right, I've returned with urgent information for Tsunade." He said plainly, I smirked from behind my mask as Shizune frowned. She turned her back to us as she knocked and entered the Hokages office.

"I wonder what those Jonin were…" Yamato started his sentence before trailing off into mumbles. "I'll be right back. I'll meet you at the front door in ten minutes."

As Yamato left in a rush, Shizune exited the office and held the door open for us.

"She will see you for five minutes." Shizune stated. Jiraiya nodded before walking in the office. I followed close behind.

"Jiraiya, I hope this is important. I'm very behind on paperwork." Tsunade said whilst cleaning up a few loose papers. It surprised me to see that she wasn't happy to see him…maybe I'm not used to her being busy like this.

"I have reason to believe Sakura is in danger." Jiraiya cut straight to the point. Tsunade instantly looked up and impatiently tapped her fingers on her desk quietly.

"The evidence?" She spoke up, irritation invading her tone.

"I've heard from some sources that the Akatsuki are roaming the fire border, searching for something near the pond of amity."

Tsunade bit done on her thumbnail as if she knew why they would be there.

"Is there something there, Hokage?" I spoke up after a few moments. Tsunades eyes darted in my direction before she sat up straight

"I had a suspicion that there were herbs growing in that area…although after 8 years of revisiting the place I concluded that there wasn't anything there," she stood up and faced the window. "I was given a heads up that the herb that was suspected of being there could practically give immortality. But I didn't think that the source was reliable." Tsunade crossed arms and sighed. "I mean, a mere herb that stimulates immortality…" she scoffed before turning to face Jiraiya.

"You think Sakura found it?" Jiraiya half answered Tsunades unspoken question. She nodded slightly. "Yamato planted-"

"I asked him to...I do trust Sakura, although I didn't want her to burst into an emotional state and run off to look for Sasuke or anything." Tsunade interrupted but her face relaxed slightly. "Did Yamato say anything about the signal?"

"Interrupted." Jiraiya answered.

"I'll have to send someone…" Tsunade started to speak to herself, debating what would be the best course of action.

"I personally believe that it would be best to send myself, Kakashi and Yamato…and perhaps another to outnumber the three suspected Akatsuki members, in case we have to engage in battle." Jiraiya spoke up. Tsunade slung her hands to her side.

"I agree…although a lot of the Jonin have been given important missions…and the others are stationed here in case of an attack." She kept a firm stare at Jiraiya. The room fell silent. The rain hitting the window at a faster rate than before.

"No, I have a plan." Tsunade said before pacing around the space. "I can send you and Kakashi ahead…and," She stopped walking. "I'll send Yamato, Sai and Naruto as a group." She stressed Narutos name out unsurely.

"That will be good, Naruto has been cooped up in the village for a while now." I spoke up as Tsunade nodded at me, concern obvious in her eyes.

"I want you all to leave as soon as you gather everyone together." She dismissed us before sitting in her chair again. "I want regular updates." She called out as we both walked out.

"This really isn't good…The Akatsuki don't care who they kill." Jiraiya said as he walked by my side.

I must admit. I'm super paranoid about Sakura and her safety…but she's not as useless as she used to be.

"She's a clever person. She wouldn't be reckless if she bumped into the Akatsuki…" I tried to reassure myself before we soon reached Yamato, who was waiting impatiently at the door.

"Those Jonin earlier," Yamato started as he faced us. "They saw three mysteriously dressed rouge ninjas that had a certain pink haired girl from our village with them. They thought they could take them on only to discover quickly that it was the Akatsuki and despite the number of the specialists, they got beaten and they barely made it out alive."

My eyes widened before I rubbed my face with my left hand.

"They've captured her? For what purpose?" I asked pointlessly.

"Like you said earlier, Kakashi, she's a clever person. I can only presume she's done something that requires the Akatsuki to keep her alive." Jiraiya spoke up. "But we need to hurry up and get Sai and Naruto so we can get to her before they do anything too much to her…She may possess something that could potentially ruin our future if the wrong people got their hands on it…That's if Tsunade is right."

And that's how our most important mission started. I kept a promise to myself that I would never let any of my students get lost within the darkness…and this would be the second student that this would happen to…

No, I'm putting my life on the line for this. I won't let them do anything to them. I won't let them kill her…

I won't.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **:D A bit of a longer chapter :) and if you've read the older version of this remake you'll find that I've changed some of the things that happen.**

 **This time around I would like to make this Fanfiction as accurate to the true characters as I possibly can make them :) Thank you so much for reading guys! I'm already working on the next chapter ^^**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – The start of a new life

[Sakura's POV]

My head felt heavy…

…My whole body felt heavy…

I attempted to open my eyes but I couldn't even twitch them.

What happened…I felt cold…It was the last day of my week out…

"Shit." I cussed before forcing my eyes open…not that it helped much at all…I've been blindfolded. I tried moving around but I soon figured that I was rigged with Chakra repelling binds that made it impossible to escape using my chakra without some form of punishment…normally the binds would only burn if I attempted to escape…But I can't exactly see what kind of binds these were…and knowing the Akatsuki…It can't have been anything legal…

"Finally awake." I heard a horribly deep, unfamiliar, voice come from behind me, making my whole body shake involuntarily.

"What do you want from me?" I questioned gingerly as I heard his footsteps travel around me.

"You have something that belongs to us. We'd like it back." His voice hissed.

Oh yeah…I took that weird herb…although I can't remember exactly why…but it didn't seem like a good idea to tell them that I have it.

"I don't have it." I said bluntly.

Almost instantly I felt something really sharp poking at the bottom of my stomach.

"Don't lie, girl."

My breath started to get shaky…I'm going to get tortured for this…Why couldn't they have taken the herb and left me alone. I gulped and tried to think more about what happened.

I put my hands on my pouch…my hands…oh shit. I had used my reserved chakra to create a barrier around it before I lost consciousness…and they can't get in…they can't even touch it.

Wait…They can't get in? That's hilarious.

Before I could say anything I heard a door open.

"Kakuzu, Don't hurt her yet. Pain wants to see her first." A soft female voice spoke. I would've looked at her…if I could see.

"Fine." The man grunted. I expected to feel myself getting cut loose…although my body just moved on its own…What kind of binds were these?

The walk was deafeningly quiet. All that filled my ears was the sound of footsteps and breathing…it was starting to freak me out.

We soon reached some form of room as someone opened a door.

"Put her here." A new voice stated as my body tensed in anticipation.

My feet were placed firmly on the ground and my blindfold was removed. I had to blink a few times to get my vision properly but when it came round I could clearly see a ginger haired man with, what seemed like, piercings all over his face.

The door slammed behind me and my body jumped slightly, I looked down to see that my hands were still restricted…but it was only rope, I can break out of this easy.

My attention changed back to the man who was quite far away. He wasn't talking…and his eyes were closed.

I stared blankly in his direction before clearing my throat.

"What?" I said firmly. He simply stood there…just standing…not doing anything. He doesn't even look like he's thinking about anything.

I frowned sourly before I exerted a bit of chakra in my wrists in preparation of breaking the binds.

"Afraid of being too close in case I beat the living shit out of you?" I said out of annoyance as I broke my binds.

Just as I was about to run towards him, some weird force started forcing me towards him. I planted my feet firmly on the ground, but that didn't help at all.

My body unwillingly flew towards him faster. He held me by my collar and raised me high enough so I was on my tiptoes…

His eyes snapped open and glared directly into my own. I resisted the urge to punch him, I can't be so careless to attack an enemy that I know nothing about…

"How stupid of you to attempt an attack on an opponent who is out of your league." He said before throwing me on the ground. "Now. I would normally have you tortured you to near death to get you to release the shield over your bag. But I know that would only be foolish…as I've gained intelligence that you are in fact of some use to us as a medical ninja."

"And what makes you think that I'll simply abide by your rules?" I grunted as I got myself off the ground and onto my feet…

This guy just towered over me…he must be like six foot at least. His eyes narrowed at me and a dangerous aura seemed to surround him.

"I don't think you realise just how lucky you are to have this opportunity amongst us. If you disobey us we can simply kill you in a way you will have never imagined. We have only kept you alive for convenience, don't think we really need you to achieve our goal." He said darkly. I frowned slightly before looking at the ground in defeat.

"Fine," I started. I slowly brought my eyes to look back up at him. "But I have a question." I stated.

We stood in silence for a few seconds before I assumed I was good to speak further.

"Once I've reached my use to you…will I be allowed to leave?" I asked very, _very_ carefully.

"No." he stated bluntly before walking past me. "Follow me."

I reluctantly followed him through the horribly plain building before he stopped outside a door.

"Familiarise yourself with him. He's your partner if you pass the initiation later on tonight." The man opened the door.

I was about to retort with something sarcastic but his eyes spooked me out enough to just mind my own business.

I really did not want to be associated with these guys…they can't force me to join them. **_I'll kill myself before I fight alongside an Akatsuki member and protect them in battle._**

I hesitantly walked into the room before the man shut it firmly behind me.

"Uh…" I attempted to greet the blonde haired guy sitting with his back facing me.

"I can barely believe it myself. the person who murdered my old partner…is now my new partner. Tell me," The man said as he turned on his chair to face me. "Did you enjoy murdering someone?"

I stood in silence for a while before realising that the man who was in front of me was Sasoris Partner, Deidara.

"Um…technically he was a puppet." I answered, confused at this situation.

"Obviously." He tutted before he stood up and walked towards me. "First of all we're getting you out of that obvious outfit." He yanked my hand in the direction of a white door in his room.

This situation sucks…I can't do anything…I am completely outnumbered here…I think the safest bet is to keep my pouch protected and sneak out during the night or something like that.

We both entered the room and it was completely full of clothes. Are these clothes even going to fit me?

"Right at the back are some smaller clothes for...smaller people." Deidara stated as if answering my question.

I pouted subconsciously before walking to the back of the wardrobe to find a slim fitting black tank top and some black leggings. I hesitantly picked them both up and I started to walk back to Deidara.

Something caught my eye so I walked over and picked up this thin, red, black zipped hoodie. I threw it over my shoulder and walked past Deidara before he closed the door.

"Don't watch me while I change." I said as a warning before I dumped the clothes onto his bed.

I heard a sigh before I turned around to see that Deidara was facing the other way.

I quickly took off my old gear, except my underwear, and replaced it with the newer clothes.

The clothes surprisingly smelled fresh and it was soft against my skin. I threw my arms into the hoodie in a rush before attaching my pouch back onto my hip.

"Done." I said as I sighed and used my hands to swiftly brush through my hair.

"You ready?" He said as if I had a clue what he was speaking about.

"Ready for what?" I scoffed with a half amused look on my face.

"For your fight to prove your basic worth…" he replied as he walked to the exit. I almost choked on air.

"Who am I fighting?" I asked, hopelessness drowning my tone. Deidara opened the door and smirked.

"Your choice…but we're all impossible to beat."

I laughed lightly at his statement.

"I bet." I said before he started leading me somewhere.

I felt so dirty…I've only been here for what seemed like half an hour and I'm having a conversation with them…

Wait…this could be a good thing. I can research their movements. Their weaknesses while I am here. They're not going to kill me until I've reached the end of my use…I could get more from them than they can from me.

After a few minutes of walking, we entered a huge room, littered with boulders and stray weeds…clearly no one cared to tend to this area.

I took a good look around, assuming this was the room I was going to be fighting in.

I took a few more steps into the room before Deidara stood in a line with 7 other people.

"Who are you fighting." I looked to my right to see the ginger haired guy from earlier. I quickly looked at the line of people.

Everyone was giving me a blank look…so I couldn't tell if any of them were emotional fighters. My eyes suddenly stopped when I saw Itachi stare at me with challenging eyes, as if to bait me.

"Him." I said as I pointed towards my choice of opponent.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ayye :D 2 chapters in one day. Maybe I can fit in a third ;) Thank you for reading ^_^**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five – Setting out

[Narutos POV]

I'd been staring at the side of Sais head for ten minutes. He didn't even say anything to me when he got here. It's starting to irritate me.

I huffed before taking a seat on a nearby bench. When is this rain going to stop? I'm soaking wet…

"Where is he?" I complained while leaning back. I sighed loudly, trying to get Sais attention. But he was still staring down at his piece of paper, doodling something. Probably something stupid…How come he gets to sit in the sheltered area?

"We've been waiting here for ages!" I groaned while flinging my arms to the side of the chair, letting the rain hit my face as I looked up. Sai folded up his piece of paper and put it in his pocket.

"He must have a good reason for being late, Naruto." Sai said in arrogant tone. I scowled at him and stood up from my seat.

"Oh yeah? And what kind of excuse could that be, huh?" I questioned. Before Sai could answer me, Kakashi, Yamato and Jiraiya walked onto the training grounds.

That's weird, why are Kakashi and Jiyaira here? Why do they look so…glum?

"Sai, Naruto." Yamato shouted from over the fields. I frowned before reluctantly running over to them.

"What is it?" I asked, annoyed that Yamato had kept us waiting so long…I'd understand if it was Kakashi...But Yamato was never late for anything.

"Sorry but training today will have to be postponed to a more…convenient time." He started as he signalled for us to follow him down the training grounds. "We've been assigned an S-ranked mission, which may turn out to be one of the most important missions we've been on."

I looked over at Kakashi, to see if he'd give me any more information…but he just kept a straight face and stared ahead of him. I grunted before looking back at Yamato, normally I would have been so pumped to have an S-ranked mission given to me…but the senseis are ruining the mood.

"Okay, so what's this mission about then? And why are there five of us?" I asked as I scratched the back of my head.

"We're searching for a missing person from our village and we've been asked to return them." Yamato said as he started running. "Follow me, Sai, Naruto."

I hesitantly followed him. I didn't like the fact he was being super vague with us…as if we weren't to be trusted…with a mission we were personally assigned to…

"We'll send updates to you first, Yamato." Jiraiya said before both him and Kakashi sprinted ahead of us.

We all moved in silence as the rain fell hard on the ground. The ground started to become too soft so I jumped up to travel in the trees.

"Why have we been sent on a collection mission anyway?" I spoke up as Yamato and Sai also jumped up to the trees.

"Don't be so ungrateful Naruto, this is an important mission…I'll fill you in on the details properly when we make camp later-" Yamato started before a huge bolt of lightning struck a branch in front of Yamato.

Before anyone could react Yamatos body hit the ground, making mud fly in all directions.

"Yamato!" I shouted involuntarily. I jumped down, sliding a bit on the mud beneath me, before taking a look at him.

"Give it a few seconds before you touch him, Naruto." Sai said as he grabbed my wrist.

"I'm not stupid." I stated before snatching my wrist back from him.

"I'm fine, the lightning just messed up my-ugh," Yamato started while sitting up slowly. "My senses."

I frowned at him while he got to his feet.

"It would be a good idea if we set up camp now. I know we're only three miles out from the village, but the storm is getting worse and it's impossible to travel efficiently in these conditions…unless you have an affinity to lightning." Sai stated coldly.

"Why? We've only just started our mission…Where are we supposed to go anyway?" I moaned while brushing the rain away from my face.

"Sai is right, Naruto." He replied as he made a few hand signs before slamming them on the ground.

Within seconds a wooden cabin was formed around the trees.

We all entered the cabin in silence and sat down after taking off our outer clothing to dry off.

"So, now that we've made camp…what's our mission all about?" I asked.

Yamato gave me a concerned look before sighing.

"Alright, just…don't make me repeat it."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys! :D Sorry about the short chapter . I'm just getting back to the swing of things. I will post at least another two chapters by the end of today :)**

 **thank you for reading!**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six – Initiation

[Deidaras POV]

"Him." Sakura said while pointing towards me. I smirked slightly and raised an eyebrow. "I have to know how my potential partner works, after all." She murmured on.

I looked over at Pain. He nodded slightly at me, and I nodded back.

Before Sakura could even blink I stuffed my left hand in my clay pouch and sped towards her with a kunai in my other hand. She seemed to have seen that coming as she jumped back a fair distance and punched the ground.

The cement below me started to split underneath me and rumble, making me lose my footing.

I decided to jump to the side to avoid any concrete flying up into my face. I took my left hand out the pouch as my hand started chewing and moulding the clay to a small centipede.

For a few moments I couldn't see Sakura at all…considering she has bright pink hair, she should be easy to see. But after a couple of seconds I saw a pink head covered behind a boulder.

I smirked before shoving my right hand in my clay pouch to produce small, but fast, birds.

I swiftly chucked the first lot towards the boulder and they exploded upon contact. I saw her figure race out of the dust from the explosion as I sent another lot of birds in her direction, making sure that each bird took a slightly different path in case she changed her route of escape.

This repetitive pattern seemed to continue for ages until I was sure that Sakura was distracted with the birds to notice anything else.

After sending the last lot of birds, I used my left hand to dig the centipede underground for my final move.

As soon as the birds exploded, Sakura sprinted towards me in a zigzag pattern to attempt and dodge any potential projectiles I throw at her and she pulled her right hand back.

She didn't seem to infuse her fist with chakra like she did earlier, so I simply readied myself for one on one combat.

I blocked her fist in my hand easily, although the force behind her punch was way stronger than I was expecting so my hand shook slightly on impact. She went to kick my head with her left leg but I merely ducked, although I had to let go of her fist as she spun around, as my hand is sensitive to too much friction.

I went to punch her in the stomach but she swiftly blocked my arm before attempting to punch me again, although this time I could see that she infused her fist with chakra. I quickly jumped up, narrowly avoiding her punch by mere centimetres.

I shoved my right hand into my pocket to produce a bigger bird I could fly on, but I needed a bit more time for my hand to chew and mould the clay to the correct shape.

Sakura threw needles in my direction. Assuming they were poisoned, I used my kunai to deflect any needles that I could see.

I dropped the clay out of my right hand and I used a single hand sign to enlarge the creature.

Sakura started to throw more needles my way but her efforts were wasted as my bird took most of the impact of the needles.

I now had the advantage, I'm up in the air and I have a centipede underground waiting to strike at any moment. She's completely lost this.

I smirked before placing both of my hands into the clay pouches to use the rest of my clay to move Sakura so my centipede could strike at the last moment.

It only took a few moments before I sent a barrage of clay birds towards her.

My plan was going as expected, my birds exploded around her as she jumped closer and closer to my centipede.

As my last bird exploded I made a few hand signs. Sakura had no time to move as my centipede wrapped around her body tightly, holding her firmly in place. I jumped off my bird and swiftly got rid of it as I stood a fair few metres away from Sakura.

"Game over." I stated, with an arrogant tone. Sakura tried to struggle against my clay but she wasn't getting out of there any time soon.

"The game isn't over until I'm dead, idiot." She called out, seemingly mocking me at my mercy towards her.

"Fine." I simply stated. I performed a few hand signs to explode my masterpiece.

The whole room brightened up for a split second before the room started to fill up with dust.

I couldn't see any body movement so I could only assume that I won. I smiled before turning around behind me, Pain was standing there looking really weirdly at me…

"What?" I questioned as I stupidly let my guard down. Before I could even react, Pain had punched me squarely in the stomach with such a force that I flew back.

I could just about see the image of Pain disappear in a cloud of white smoke as I flew deeper into the dust.

I finally landed on my back harshly near a huge boulder. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as the dust started to settle.

That sneaky bitch hit very close to my diaphragm… I decided that it would be stupid to get up just now as I'd only end up choking on air.

I lay still on the ground for a few seconds before I see a very battered looking Sakura fall down towards me readying herself for a punch. I smiled to myself as I closed my eyes. I've used all my explosives and I can barely move and my whole back feels completely numb…how stupid of me.

The next thing I heard was the ground next to me breaking, so I opened my eyes to see that Sakura was kneeling over my arms and had punched the ground to my right.

"I win." She said as I noticed her other hand holding a kunai to my throat.

The dust had completely settled. I daren't even look around me at the mocking faces of the rest of the Akatsuki.

"That settles it." Pain said as he pushed Sakura away with his jutsu. Sakura simply stumbled back and stood firmly on the ground, giving Pain a sour expression.

"Get up Deidara, you and Hidan are to patrol the area around us…in case we need to move hideouts." He concluded before Hidan sighed loudly and walked towards me.

"Get up then you sissy." He stated as I frowned at him. I tried getting up but my body wasn't moving at all.

"He can't. I broke his spine." Sakura said calmly as she walked towards me while clicking her knuckles.

I scoffed silently, she took me out in one punch…I need to study her closer…Like Pain said.

There were a few moments of silence as the rest of the Akatsuki surrounded me as if I was dying or something, it was quite off putting.

I felt a warm sensation in my chest temporarily before a surge of pain spread around my back. I grunted before Sakura stood back up.

"You're fine now." She said before stepping back a few steps. I got to my feet and stretched my back out. I looked down at her briefly before walking away with Hidan towards the exit.

As we were both out of earshot Hidan hit me on the chest with the back of his hand.

"You're such an Idiot." He stated. I ignored this and continued walking. "You lost to her." He continued, mocking me as he laughed.

"If her clone wasn't in the explosion I would have got her." I said defensively while scratching the back of my head.

"Her clone wasn't in the explosion. If you used your eyes, her clone was actually disguised as you…standing with us in the audience." He chuckled on. I sighed and closed my eyes momentarily.

"She really did that?" I doubted as Hidan laughed harder.

"The worst part about it is that she was able enough to get hit with one of your bigger explosions close range, and maintain a clone AND change the appearance of the clone again…Either you're getting weaker or she's a strong girl." He finished as he rested his scythe on his shoulder.

"I underestimated her…but she's not that strong, I went easy on her." I lied as we entered the outdoors. It was raining heavily. I sighed before looking over to Hidan.

"We don't need to look so far. My birds have just been interrupted by an unnatural lightning source..." I said as I felt my bird five miles ahead of me get shut off.

We both head into the hideout to tell Pain the bad news.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sorry about any spelling or grammatical mistakes. I always read through the chapter a day or two afterwards to fix any mistakes, and as always, Thank you for reading! :D**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven – Part of them

[Sakuras POV]

My whole body was hurting so badly, everything burned…I was an idiot for provoking him…but I won so I guess that is all that matters right now. Deidara and Hidan had already left the area but I was still standing awkwardly around the Akatsuki.

"Itachi," Pain finally spoke up as I flinched slightly before looking over at Itachi, who was keeping a firm glare in Pains Direction. "Lead her to the main bathroom and get her cleaned up." I frowned in disgust as I was just about to speak up.

"Don't talk." Itachi interrupted my thought, yanked my wrist and led me out of the room. I refrained so much from yelling out in pain, it felt like my wrist was on fire. I wanted to snatch my hand back but Itachi had a strong hold on it.

We continued further into the hideout, taking lefts and rights until I could no longer backtrack. We soon entered a bright room. It was very clean…that was my first observation until my eyes locked onto a small photo on the desk in the far corner of the room…Was that…Sasuke? Before I could get a clear look, Itachi yanked me further into the room until we reached another door.

I was expecting Itachi to wait outside but he opened the door and let go of my hand. Locking the door behind me, Itachi then walked over to a bath that stood weirdly in the middle of the room before switching on both the taps. He poured in, what looked like, bubble bath solution before he walked over to me and stared into my eyes.

I glared back at him before he went to sit on a plastic chair in the corner of the room. I continued to stare at him in confusion.

This was the guy who killed his whole clan…Sasuke's biggest enemy…and I'm right here…

"You might want to stop the taps before you flood the place." He spoke up. I sighed and reluctantly went to turn off the taps.

I removed my hoodie before turning to see Itachi still looking at me.

"Avert your eyes." I said. Itachi stared at me blankly for a moment before closing his eyes.

"You have 15 seconds." He stated. I frowned at him before rushing to remove my clothing. I carefully placed the pouch on the ground before I hopped into the bath.

My whole body stung horrendously as soon as my skin came into contact with the water.

I stopped a grunt from escaping my lips as I tried to relax my body into the water.

I didn't look at Itachi after that, I just started to heal my body, it was going to take quite some time to tend to the burns.

The more I healed my burns, the more tired I grew, the warm water inviting me to sleep but I fought my consciousness for a while.

 ** _The bathroom filled with darkness within seconds…as if there was a fire nearby. I sat up in the bath before looking around._**

 ** _Different colours started to dot around in my vision until structures started forming around me. I could see a building very similar to my own house. I stood up from the bath and looked down at myself. I was fully naked._**

 ** _But very quickly the bath had turned into dust and the water slowly spread out on the floor. The white dust circled around me once before it attached itself onto my body to form a short white dress. Some of the water on the ground surrounded my feet to create glass like shoes, the other parts of the water attached itself to my stomach to create a crystal blue bow around my waist and a blue rose in my hair._**

 ** _I used my hands to feel the soft materials on my body before walking forwards. The scene started to get brighter._**

 ** _I saw a silhouette of a man in the distance…Standing quite close to my house…I sped up my pace and the wind started picking up…almost as if the wind didn't want me to walk towards the man._**

 ** _"_ _Sakura." I heard a familiar voice softly call my name. It must have come from the guy near my house._**

 ** _I started to power walk, ignoring the wind making it harder for me to breathe._**

 ** _"_ _Quick, there isn't much time…" I started running, my breath leaving me quickly._**

 ** _"_ _Sasuke?" I called out, my vision on the man getting more clear. I quickened my pace, tears threatening to fall from my eyes._**

 ** _The man started to walk towards me with his arms held out. I could tell by now it was Sasuke so I sprinted towards him and I swiftly hugged him tightly._**

 ** _"_ _Sakura…" he whispered in my ear as his grip tightened around my back. "You useless fool." He continued as I felt a sharp object pierce my back and through my stomach. I looked down and I could see that the blade had gone through me and started to penetrate into Sasukes body too._**

 ** _Red started to stain the brilliant white dress. It spread quite fast until blood started to drip down onto the floor. I looked up at Sasuke and his face was mere inches from my own._**

 ** _"_ _Sa-Sasuke?" I hoarsely whispered as his lips hovered over my own. I couldn't breathe at all. My body felt so heavy…_**

 ** _…_ _so heavy…_**

 ** _…_ _Like I was drowning in my own blood…_**

 ** _…_ _my blood…like…_**

 ** _…_ _like I was drowning…_**

I opened my eyes and thrashed around in this new found water I was submerged in. My eyes stung slightly as the water hit my face. The best thing I could do right now was to relax, but I could gauge that I had a lot of water in my lungs, so I didn't even have any oxygen to even attempt to breathe with.

An arm had wrapped itself around my back as it lifted me into a fluffy red towel, couldn't stay steady on my feet. I just felt light headed as I was moved around and I couldn't see straight.

"Kisame." My head started banging as I heard muffled voices around me.

I tried to speak up but I ended up starting a choking fit. I couldn't stop coughing. My body started to violently shiver. I could feel the life escaping me.

"Yeah I know." I heard a deep voice as my chin was uncomfortably forced up. My eyes started to feel extremely weighted. But I felt something wet surround my lips.

Just as quickly I felt the water from my lungs escape me, but at a horribly fast rate, itching my throat as it passed through my mouth and out to whatever it was extracting the water.

As my lungs got emptier, I started regaining my vision, until my eyes focused onto a big blue face that was a few centimeters from my own.

I tried to push myself away from the blue face as a natural reaction but attempts were futile as he gripped my head from moving.

A few more seconds passed as he finally moved his head away from me. I greedily gasped for air in relief as Kisame found a bucket to spit the water into.

I watched, astounded, as the bucket started to overfill with water. I suddenly started becoming very aware of the temperature around me. My wet hair dripping down from my face and back, making everything colder. I hugged the towel close to my body to attempt to warm my body, but the towel was quite small.

"W-what the hell?" I asked, not knowing what else to say. Kisame wiped his mouth before looking from me to Itachi.

"Next time you want a bit of male affection, maybe it would be less life threatening if you asked." Kisame winked at me before he left the room.

I stood in bewilderment for a few moments before looking over at Itachi.

"Don't be such an idiot next time." He said as he chucked my pouch at me. I grabbed it with my right hand before he pointed over at some gear hung on a wardrobe. "There are some new shorts, a fish net top and the same hoodie as you selected before. I'll wait for two minutes outside the room." He stated as he left the room.

I took a big breath before taking the towel to dry off my body as quick as I possibly could before reaching into my pouch for my red set of underwear. I hesitantly rushed to get the clothes on before rubbing my head with the towel.

I noticed that my hair had grown a few inches since I went out on my personal mission…its weird that I've only noticed now.

As soon as I attached the pouch to my side, Itachi opened the door. I rushed to exit the room before I saw Deidara and Hidan walk towards us.

"Pain obviously hasn't told you yet, but we're supposed to be moving bases, to the mist." Deidara spoke to Itachi. I looked up at Itachi but he didn't look at me.

"You seen Kakuzu anywhere?" Hidan asked as Itachi shook his head. Hidan grunted before walking off. Itachi pushed past me and walked in the opposite way to Hidan leaving me with Deidara.

"Well, you look like you're ready to go, I just need to pick up the rest of my clay and then we can leave." Deidara stated before walking in the direction of his room.

I reluctantly followed him, making sure that I didn't make a sound.

Deidara opened his door and went inside the room. I just stood in the doorway, holding the door open as Deidara rummaged through the clutter in his room. He picked some grey pouches up and stuffed it into his pockets. He turned round to look at me. He just stopped at stared at me.

"Come here, idiot." He said in a softer voice than I was used to hearing. I hesitantly let go of the door and walked towards him. He sat me down on the edge of his bed before handing me over a hair dryer.

I looked at him for a moment before turning the hair dryer on the highest temperature. I picked up the brush that was on Deidaras bed and rushed to dry my hair completely.

After a majority of my hair was dry, I turned off the hairdryer and stood up.

"Alright, let's head out. It shouldn't take us too long." Deidara said as he walked towards the exit of his room. "Oh, I forgot to give you this. It should fit you." He held out a long black robe, lined with red threads and holding the patterns of traitors…

I didn't want to think too deeply into it, so I just shoved it on and left it unzipped.

"It's kinda big on you." Deidara laughed before leaving his room. I quickly followed him and we both reached the outdoors. It was chucking it down with rain.

I wondered for a moment why Deidara would get me to dry my hair if it was raining so hard.

But my unspoken question was answered as he dropped a clay figure onto the ground. He performed a hand sign and the small figure turned into a Pegasus looking creature with an overhead guard crafted from its tail.

I stood still as Deidara jumped onto the back of the Pegasus looking creature.

"C'mon, we can't waste any more time." He said loudly through the rain. I rushed to get on the front of the creature before I hugged onto its neck.

I couldn't feel like any more of a traitor if I tried…the sound of hooves hit the soft mud and the rain hitting the ground distracted me from thinking straight…

…I wonder if anyone knows that I'm gone…I wonder if anyone would care that I'm not back in Konoha yet…

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight – Finding small things

[Kakashis POV]

It seemed like the rain was only getting heavier the further away from the village we travelled. I concentrated hard on my balance and I also tried to keep an eye out for Jiraiya in case he tripped at all.

"Hold up, Kakashi." He suddenly spoke as he jumped up onto a tree branch. I swiftly followed him before staring at the direction his finger was pointing in and saw a strange white bird. "From what I've gathered, intelligence on the Akatsuki and all, that white bird over there is an explosive."

I lifted my headband and used my sharingan to briefly examine the creature.

"I could easily deactivate it by using my lightning." I stated before shoving my headband down my head again. Jiraiya nodded and just as I expected, the bird slopped into a lump of clay as my lightning infused shuriken hit it.

"We must be close. We need to up our pace." Jiraiya stated as he started sprinting in the trees. I followed him and we both attempted to run through the heavy weather.

After a while, our visions started to get blocked by the sheer amount of rain that was falling from the sky.

"Kakashi, that building, we're going to have to take shelter in there before moving on…" Jiraiya shouted through the rain. I couldn't have agreed more.

We both entered the building and immediately came across a tattered looking battle ground. We didn't even have to talk to each other, Jiraiya simply summoned a load of frogs to search the area, I would've summoned my dogs but in this case, I have to wait a few more days.

After a few minutes of trying not to step on the frogs, they all seemed to just vanish, all except one.

"Over here, Kakashi." Jiraiya spoke as he sent the last frog away. I walked over to him and looked at the ground.

"A bunch of long blonde hairs?" I questioned. Jiraiya kneeled down and plucked a single hair out that was significantly shorter than the others….and significantly pinker too.

"A fight? Is this one of Sakuras hairs? It's singed at the end…How long ago was she here?" Jiraiya started to talk to himself mostly.

"Let's take a look around." I suggested as Jiraiya nodded. We both head out the room to explore the rest of the building but it was completely empty. As if no one had lived here in ages.

Until a small square photo had reflected its location to us. I wanted to rush to it and grab it away but Jiraiya got to it before me.

I stood, quite embarrassed, as Jiraiya took a long, hard look at the photo.

"Kakashi…" he started. I looked over at him but his stare was still fixed on the photo. "This is you." He said more than he questioned.

I slowly moved towards him and peeked over his shoulder to see the photo I was fearing to see.

"She…I was lonely and she played that to her advantage…" I admitted as he passed it over the photo to me.

"She definitely knows how to dress for the occasion." Jiraiya chuckled as I put the photo away in my pouch. "It's odd she'd have a photo like that on her. But useful because now we definitely know she's been here."

"It looks like they've already left the place…but the weather is too extreme right now to travel any further…" I pointed out while we both started walking around the place even more.

"That may be so…but we've made quite some progress." Jiraiya said as we both stopped at a second exit. Rain was still falling hard.

"Wait, Jiraiya, look." I pointed at the muddy prints in the ground. "They're quite fresh…if they're still in the ground through this rain. But they won't be for much longer. What do we do now?"

Jiraiya scratched the side of his head while thinking of something.

"We will make less progress following that trail now than we would if we waited for the weather to stop." He said finally before sitting back against the wall. "We wait for now." He finished as he closed his eyes.

I frowned but reluctantly sat against the wall too.

"So assuming the Akatsuki actually have Sakura with them…and assuming she has the herb Tsunade spoke about…Why are they still keeping her? I mean…how can we know she's not dead yet?" I spoke aloud. I didn't get any responses from Jiraiya for a while. I just heard the rain hit the ground harshly for a good couple of seconds.

"I can only guess that they have no clue whatsoever on how to utilise the herb…or even use it properly…But that's only my guess…Other than that, Sakura killed Sasori, right?" Jiraiya finally said. I looked over at him and nodded my head, although he wasn't even looking at me so that was pointless.

"Yeah…She did, alongside Elder Chiyo…but she's dead."

"Then maybe they're making her suffer for it…I can't honestly answer something I don't know. But I have a feeling we will find something out when this weather lets up…"

* * *

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – Too Much Socialising

[Deidaras POV]

We were nearing the village of mist border quite quickly, although I saw Sakura look at a certain area as we passed it.

"Is there something you see, Sakura?" I asked as her bright emerald eyes looked over at me momentarily.

"It's…Nothing important." She said before turning around. I turned my creature around before heading towards a sword in the distance, we stopped a few feet away from what looked like a grave.

Sakura jumped off the creature and walked towards the sword.

I hesitantly jumped off too, refraining myself from grunting in complaint, before walking towards her.

The rain had started to clear up.

"This feels like so long ago…this feels. Weird." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Well, if it's any help, my partner died a few weeks ago." I retorted sarcastically. She simply turned to face me and smirked slightly.

"Do you really miss him that much? I mean, you were arguing with him before you left." She responded. I smiled slightly before placing a hand on my hip.

"We had our differences, but I knew him well."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows and put both of her hands on her hips.

"Pshht. Whatever." She gave up and walked past me to get onto the creature before I heard her stopping. I turned around to see that she was staring at four people heading our way.

"Who is that?" I asked, looking at Sakura. She looked at me in panic…but why.

"I think that's…Sasuke." She responded, clearly flustered about something. I smirked and stopped myself from teasing her.

"What do we do?" She continued, refusing to look back at the people in the distance. They would have noticed us by now, so they may even attack us any moment. Before I could do anything I saw two of the four figures disappear…but they weren't approaching us...Are they challenging us?

"Get away from my sword!" I heard from one of the guys. He came into view…if I remember rightly then he's called Suigetsu. And the Dark haired emo looking bastard is Sasuke. You can just see that the Uchiha glare is dripping from his dark aura.

"That's not your weapon at all! It was Zabuzas! So get your own damn Sword elsewhere!" Sakura shouted back, she finally turned to face Sasuke and Suigetsu.

"Is this your way of trying to 'out-evil' me?" I could barely hear Sasuke chuckle, Sakura didn't react at all.

"I don't care who the sword belonged to before, It's a waste seeing it unused…well, in a good way." Suigetsu replied as the two stopped a good few metres ahead of us.

Normally I wouldn't have given it a second to think of attacking the two men, but I wanted to wait it out, Obviously Sakura and Sasuke have had an encounter before.

"Or you're too poor, unskilled and lazy to get your own sword." Sakura retorted, putting a hand on her hip and leaning on one leg.

"Unskilled?" He repeated, looking quite dumbfounded.

"Did I fucking stutter?" Sakura scoffed. I looked at her before smiling slightly, what's got her so wound up?

"You-" He started before running up to Sakura, who merely dodged his attack before landing a brutal punch to his side.

He skidded on the ground before crippling over and grabbing his stomach.

"She's a tough one." Suigetsu wheezed.

"Well, she is a part of the _Akatsuki_." Sasuke laughed before darting towards Sakura.

By examining her movements, she didn't seem to want to fight this guy back…how annoying. I sped in front of Sakura and threw some clay birds Sasukes way.

He performed some form of fire jutsu only to set off the explosives earlier.

"Look, Sakura. I don't care what kind of history you guys have with each other, but I'm not going to call you any partner of mine if you're going to be a coward and not fight back." I murmured. Sakura nodded as I walked to her side.

"Since when did _you_ become a traitor, Sakura?" Sasuke questioned as he walked through the smoke, unharmed.

"Why, does it bother you so much? I mean you decided to ditch your village for a pedo looking snake guy three years ago, being a traitor is only a natural theme for you." Sakura retorted as I scoffed slightly, Orochimaru being referred to as a pedo…this one's a funny one.

"Rather than attempting to bounce spite back at me, why don't you answer my question."

"I have no reason to tell you anything at all. You didn't tell us anything before you left."

"That's so childish."

"That's childish? Try walking out on people who risked their lives to save you."

"Oh? So you left and no one followed you…and that's why you're so uptight right now?"

"No. That's not the case. You wouldn't understand."

"I don't care anymore; you're starting to irritate me."

"Fine." Sakura hissed as she started running towards Sasuke with her fist infused with a load of chakra, she must have used quite a lot of it too as her punch missed him and broke the tree behind him.

I didn't feel like Sasuke was much of a threat to her so I just stood back and watched for now.

Sasuke and Sakura engaged in equal one on one combat for quite a while until Sasuke tripped her over onto her back and pinned her arms down over her head.

"You're still very weak, Sakura." Sasuke said with a smirk creeping on his face. Sakura pulled a very sour face back at him, it was quite cute actually. But I thought it was just about time I stepped in.

"Alright kids, lets break up the softcore stuff, we've got places to be." I spoke as Sakura looked up at me.

"But Zabuza-"

"Sakura, he's dead, we wouldn't have even crossed paths if you didn't perk up an interest in this area. The sword doesn't belong to you." I interrupted before glaring at Sasuke. "you can let go of your girlfriend now." I said almost defensively.

He glared at me for a moment before looking back down at Sakura.

"Until next time." He muttered before he vanished, I turned to look behind my shoulder and I saw Suigetsu had left as well. I turned back again and Sakura was just lying there on the ground.

I reached down with my hand until Sakura noticed.

"Did you want a bit of male affection? Or do you have a bit of a soft spot for Sasuke? Hmm?" I asked as she grabbed onto my hand.

"it's not like that." She sighed before looking down at my hand in shock. "Is that a mouth?!" she squeaked, trying to get her grip back. I just smiled and held onto her other hand.

"Why yes they are. Do they freak you out?" I teased. Her cheeks just dusted itself a light red as she tried to think of something smart to say back.

I laughed briefly before letting go of her hands. I quickly brushed a piece of her loose hair behind her ear before walking back to the untouched creature of mine.

"Keep up." I said. A few moments later I heard Sakura start running towards me.

She jumped onto the front of the creature before I could hoist myself onto the back. The mist hideout was only a few minutes away…

I smiled to myself momentarily…Maybe it won't be so hard to convince her to open up to me and trust…she seems to be disappointingly simpler than I initially thought.

* * *

 **Front cover can be seen on my DA - art/Sakuras-Journey-612555175?ga_submit_new=10%253A1464786196**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten – Relaxing

[Sakuras POV]

Once we reached the hideout, I'd been told that I had to share a room with Deidara…in case I ran away or something…I don't know. I'm still confused as to why they're still keeping me alive…or why they've practically forced me to join an organisation that I dislike…what's the point of this?

Deidara had left the room quite a while ago to go and talk with other Akatsuki members…He did actually invite me to come with him but I refused…I don't want to be a part of them.

I looked over at my pouch and pondered if I should analyse the herbs more…although I didn't have the correct books with me…nevertheless, I emptied my pouch out onto the desk and carefully placed the two vials in a holder that was already on the desk.

The pattern really interested me. It was such a weird design. I lifted a small sample to my nose and smelled It. All I got was a sour smell…sour, but sweet? Like strawberries? No, that's too sweet, apples. It must be an apple like scent.

I looked at the shelf above me and saw some writing tools, so I picked up an empty book and I started to write about the herb. I hesitantly took a leaf from the first vial I bunched and I took a scalpel from my pouch to carefully split the leaf in two.

Once I completed that I used a small amount of chakra to force the outside view of the leaf into the book to make it look like a realistic diagram, although it would lose its medicinal properties. I then placed the other leaf facing the inside structures of the leaf and used a small amount of chakra to place it in the book.

The structure of the leaf looked relatively safe, like it was an antidote or something. Whatever this herb was, it wasn't harmful as far as I could see.

I used the scalpel to cut a small bunch from the vial into small pieces before looking around to find a mortar and pestle to grind the herbs even further. Taking out a gel from my bag and infusing the two together, I waited to see if they would react in any negative way, which it didn't. So I wrote down more of my observations in the book.

I sighed before looking over at the scalpel again. I reached for it and cut my finger open slightly. I then took a small amount of gel and spread it over the wound and it sealed up instantly…like insanely quick.

My eyes widened as I touched where the wound once was…although my skin felt a lot different. It was softer…just like I'd been born.

I took the scalpel again to cut my finger but as soon as the blade cut through, the wound healed over the cut before any blood could even surface.

"Immortality." I said out loud before leaning back on my chair and laughing hysterically to myself. "Oh my goodness." I continued before writing more down in my book.

"Does it spread through my blood?" I whispered to myself before using the scalpel to cut a small part of my arm. The herbs hadn't spread evenly yet but to my surprise the wound started to heal slowly.

"This is not good…why did Sasori know the location of these? Wait, he planted them…how did he create this?" I mumbled to myself as I wrote more down into the book, flipping onto the second page. "If this gets linked to the heart…." I shook my head.

I heard someone's footsteps in the distance so I rushed to put everything back into my pouch.

A few moments later Itachi had walked through the door.

"Pain wants you to join us for food." He said monotonously. I looked at him briefly before standing up.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked as he simply kept a locked glare at me. "Uh…I don't mean to be nosy but your eyesight…I've read up a lot about the Sharingan and I know for a fact that your eyesight isn't perfect like it used to be." I continued, he still didn't move at all. "I was wondering if I could try something. With your eyes…" I finished, letting my curiosity be known rather than my morals.

Itachi blinked before sighing very quietly.

"Not right now." He answered while taking a step to the side, whilst keeping the door open. I hesitantly walked under his arm and out the door, before waiting for him to lead the way.

There was such an awkward silence…I felt so out of place standing next to Itachi.

"Sa-ku-ra!" I heard Deidara shout in joy as he waved at me. I looked at him before smirking slightly. He's totally drunk. I took a seat opposite him as Itachi took a seat next to Deidara.

"So we bumped into someone earlier on today. Didn't we Sakura." Deidara sang my name as I looked over at him awkwardly.

"Yeah." I responded before Kisame walked over to the table with empty silver dishes to place in front of all of us. I took this moment to look properly around the table and I saw that everyone was there. I was sitting next to an empty chair and Hidan to my left, who was looking directly at me with his calming magenta eyes.

"Sasuke." Deidara said as if to share a secret. I shot him a glare, in hopes that was as much as he was saying. "Sasuke seemed to have a bit of a thing for our Sakura."

"Sasuke and I happen to have been part of a team once, if you must know." I retorted defensively. "Sasuke doesn't exactly have any feelings other than hatred right now." I continued as Kisame set really lovely smelling food on the table before taking a seat next to me. I refrained from taking the food straight away as everyone around the table dug in.

I reached over for the orange juice before Hidan took it from me. I shot him a questionable look.

"You're the only person who hasn't had any alcohol. You don't get any orange juice." Hidan said as he drank the whole jug in one swig.

"You evil man." I joked while looking around the table. "I see no alcohol." I stated, actually disappointed to not find any set on the table.

Before I could say anything more, a huge bottle of vodka was thrown my way. I could have caught it easily but I decided that dodging it and letting it hit Hidan right in the face would be better.

"Ow!" he shouted as he caught the bottle.

"Whoops. My bad." I giggled before taking the bottle from him and placing it next to my plate. I hesitantly picked up my fork and took a small piece of chicken from the plate in front of Itachi.

I focused on eating a healthy amount as everyone else around the table spoke loudly to each other, laughing and joking and just being normal with each other…

Everyone…even Itachi, who smiled ever so slightly as some of the things Kisame was saying. Over the next few minutes the table had cleared completely of food and I found that most of the table was looking in my direction.

"Hm?" I said as I looked around at everyone. "Did someone say something to me?" I questioned gingerly.

"You've not touched any vodka since you sat down." Deidara spoke up. I looked over at the bottle before looking back over at Deidara.

"Is it imperative that I get drunk?" I replied. Deidara nodded and I grabbed the bottle before opening it up.

Well…here goes nothing.


End file.
